Parody, commentary, and fan account policy

Our principles

Twitter provides a platform for its users to share and receive a wide range of ideas and content, and we greatly value and respect our users' right to expression. Our users are solely responsible for the content they publish and are often in the best position to resolve disputes amongst themselves. Because of these principles, we do not actively monitor users' content, and we do not edit or remove user content except in response to a Terms of Service violation or valid legal process.

Users are allowed to create parody, newsfeed, commentary, and fan accounts on Twitter, provided that the accounts follow the requirements below.

Requirements for parody, newsfeed, commentary, and fan accounts

Here are the requirements for marking your account. All requirements must be met in order to comply with our parody policy.

• Avatar: The avatar should not be the exact trademark or logo of the account subject.

• Account Name: The name should not be the exact name of the account subject without some other distinguishing word, such as "not," "fake," or "fan."

• Bio: The bio should include a statement to distinguish it from the account subject, such as "This is a parody," "This is a fan page," "Parody Account," "Fan Account," "Role-playing Account," or "This is not affiliated with…"

Please note that your account must be fully compliant with the Twitter Rules and Terms of Service in addition to meeting these requirements.

How do I file a trademark or impersonation complaint?

Please see our trademark or impersonation policy pages for more information on filing a complaint regarding those issues.

We will review an account under our parody policy in response to an impersonation or trademark complaint. An account that complies with our parody policy may not be found to be violating our trademark or impersonation policies.  

If your complaint is about abusive behavior on Twitter, please see our abusive behavior policy for more information on how to file a complaint.

How are complaints processed?

We process complaints in the order in which they are received. Please note, submitting duplicate complaints may result in a delay in processing.

When we receive a valid impersonation or trademark complaint about an account that may violate our parody policy, we may give the user an opportunity to come into compliance before taking further action or may choose to temporarily suspend the account while user edits are pending. Accounts with a history of repeated violations may be permanently suspended.

What happens if someone makes a complaint about my account?

If someone makes a complaint about your account and we determine it is not compliant with the parody policy, we will email you with further instructions on how to comply with our requirements.